How to treat a foot contusion – Danny Espinosa

Danny Espinosa is the Washington Nationals second baseman and has had a slow start to his career. On Tuesday, he fouled a pitch off the top of his foot in a game against the New York Mets. Danny had to be carted off the field and was evaluated by the medical team. Their diagnosis is a foot contusion.

What is a foot contusion? A foot contusion is a fancy way of saying a foot bruise. A foot contusion can occur on any part of the foot, but the most common place in baseball is the top of the foot. This is due to the hitter fouling a ball off the bat and onto the foot.

What are the symptoms of a foot contusion? Immediate pain. Oh, baby, is there pain. After the initial pain is over the foot will swell and you will see the actual bruise begin to form. Since bruises are different grades the color and disposition will depend on the severity. In the most severe cases, you should have an xray taken of the foot to ensure no bones were broken.

As Danny said:

At first, it hurt real bad. I wasn’t able to take a step …

How do you treat a foot contusion? You should ice the bruise, elevate it and ensure you rest. Pain can be mitigated by taking an over the counter pain reliever. Remember, a bruise means you’ve damaged the circulatory system and that capillaries and/or veins have been affected. The discoloration you see is related to blood spilling into unaffected tissue.

How long does it take to recover from a foot contusion? It depends on the severity, but you can usually resume normal activity in a day or so. There are two primary factors:

Not broken – You need to ensure the foot isn’t broken. If it is broken you’re looking at a totally different injury.

Pain tolerance – How much pain can you tolerate? With a bruise if you can tolerate the pain, you can play.

Here is a great video showing how a foul ball off the foot causes a contusion: